Author: David Kurkjian

Every sales professional from their first day in sales is told, ” get in front of the decision maker”. Makes perfect sense. If you want to sell your product or service the person you need to speak with is the person that has the ability to make a buying decision. However, as Lee Corso on ESPN often says, “Not so fast!”.

I remember visiting my grandparents in Detroit for Christmas as a little boy. It was a small house near some railroad tracks not to far from downtown. One evening after dinner I found myself walking up the stairs to the bedroom where I slept. It was dark at the top of the stairs and as I reached the top step and started to take a right turn Frankenstein lunged at me from out of nowhere. That hideous green scarred face, bolts jutting out of his neck, green hands trying to grab me. The next thing I knew I was flying down the stairs 3 stairs at a time. By the time I hit the ground floor I could hear my uncle’s laugh coming from the top of the stairs. He had put on his Frankenstein mask and hands and thought it would be funny to scare the little kid. Not funny, not funny at all.

So what does this have to do with the ultimate decision maker in sales? Human’s, from their first days on planet earth, made decisions based out of the reptilian brain stem or old brain. When I encountered Frankenstein at the top of the stairs I didn’t engage him in rational thought or conversation. I didn’t stop and think, wow Frankenstein is in our house. I didn’t realize he was that tall. I wonder how fast he runs. Rational thought was not involved at all. The old brain made the decision, RUN!

The old brain is the ultimate decision maker. It’s constantly asking the question, “Is this information that I’m receiving going to kill me or help me live longer?” As a result, all decisions are filtered through the old brain. If that’s the case, we have to learn to speak a language the old brain understands so that it can make a decision. So, what does this language sound like in the sales world?

Let’s look at what it doesn’t sound like. It doesn’t sound like 95% of the Powerpoint presentations used every day in a selling conversation. Nor does it sound like an ROI calculator used to rationally convince a prospect on why they need your product. It also doesn’t sound like all the intimate detail involving your products and services. The vast majority of the messaging or language we use is better suited for the cortex or rational part of the brain, not the old brain. As a matter of fact, when we use rational fact filled language, the old brain gets frustrated, bored and checks out all together.

What language does the old brain like to hear. A language that is simple, provides contrast or uniqueness and communicates emotion. These are just a few of the elements that make it easy for the old brain to make a decision. The challenge is how do you take all the complexity, value and uniqueness of what you sell and translate it into this language?

That’s why companies are working with me. They, like you, are looking to translate the value of their products and services into a language that is simple, unique and memorable. A language that allows the ultimate decision maker to make a favorable decision.

Ok, I’ll give you one of the top elements in this language. Effective use of story telling. But you’ll have to wait until the next post to learn how to tell a story and tie it to something important in your prospects world.

What do these words have in common?

• Dating
• Cold Calling
• Interview

The success of all three is directly tied to the message you deliver in the first 30 seconds of your conversation. You could be the best looking, have the superior product and be the most qualified, but if your message is weak none of those things will matter.

When it comes to a sales professional, fear or lack of confidence in what to say results in cold call reluctance at worse or very poor results at best. In a world full of information getting someone’s attention, creating interest and moving them to action has never been more difficult.

Imagine this all too familiar scenario. A new sales representative for a sales training company has just been given a list of prospects to call. The challenge is to call and get the VP of Sales to agree to meet to talk about all the wonderful things sales training will do for the prospect. Does this conversation sound familiar?

“Hello, this is Richard Seller calling from Top Sales Training Inc. I’m the new sales rep in the area and was wondering if we could meet for 30 minutes to allow me to introduce myself and tell you all the wonderful reasons why we should do business together.”

Granted, it may not be that bad, but the mistakes made usually fall into these three areas.

1. The message is not about the prospect, it’s all about the sales rep or company.
2. The message sounds just like what everyone else is saying, nothing unique or interesting.
3. The message contains no compelling reason to take action.

So imagine if the above conversation sounded more like this,

“Hello, this is Richard Seller calling from Top Sales Training Inc. These numbers tell a challenging story for sales professionals. 9, 19, 53. A recent survey of over 1000 executives showed that when it came to making a buying decision for their company 9% based their decision primarily on price, 19% on product or brand and 53% on field interaction or the words coming out of the sales professionals mouth. What this means is that you can have the best price and product but still lose over 50% to competition if the message coming out of your reps mouth is weak. So what if you could have every one of your reps deliver sales messages and conversations that were simple, unique and memorable? That’s why companies like yours are working with Top Sales Training Inc. As a matter of fact, we recently finished an engagement with XYZ HR Services company where they were able to close 119 deals that had been previously marked dead or no decision within 90 days of implementing our training. When would be a good time for us to meet next week?”

A successful message uses third party information to introduce a threat to their business, positions the value of Top Sales Training Inc in a way that is clear on how they can overcome that threat and provides proof by giving a quick testimonial. What would that message sound like for you or your team?

Email or give me a call and I’ll walk you through the creation of a simple, unique and memorable cold calling message that can be delivered with confidence and drive new business.

In today’s selling environment these numbers tell a disturbing story.

• 85
• 15
• 1

Geoffrey Moore, in the Harvard Business Review article, “In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers”, was quoted as saying that 85% of today’s budgets are already allocated to existing commitments. 15% is available for discretionary expenses and that number continues to shrink in the face of budget cuts. 1, In this environment your sales teams are typically having to sell at least one level higher to execs where their relationship isn’t as strong.

This means your biggest challenge is to sell against the status quo.

Well over 40% of deals in most sales organizations CRM’s are marked as stalled or no decision. You also need to engage higher level decision makers who have said they are tired of playing 20 questions with reps who are hoping to find pain or challenges in their organization. Finally, with these obstacles it’s more and more difficult to stay excited and passionate as a sales professional.

So imagine if you were able to overcome the status quo with a perspective that tied directly to the uniqueness of your product or service. Imagine if you were able to bring key executives information that they didn’t know, that also represented a threat to them staying with the status quo. Finally, imagine if you delivered this information in a way that was simple, unique and memorable; resulting in increased confidence, enthusiasm and sales.

That’s why businesses are working with us. They, like you, are looking to deliver sales conversations that overcome the status quo, help become trusted advisors to prospects and reinvigorate sales.

– David Kurkjian